… Johnson turns attention to Nations League following a commendable Gold Cup performance

By Rawle Toney in Kansas City (Compliments of Let’s Bet Sports)

GUYANA finished third in Group D of the CONCACAF Gold Cup behind USA and Panama while Trinidad and Tobago finished at the bottom of the table. But for the Golden Jaguars head coach Michael Johnson, while things could have been better, he’s happy with the team’s overall showing and progression under his watch.

The Golden Jaguars, playing in their first Gold Cup in the team’s history, in the first game of the tournament, fell 4-0 to 2017 Gold Cup champions, USA when the two collided for the first time in a senior International match at the Allianz Field in Minnesota.

In their following game in Cleveland at the FirstEnergy Stadium, Guyana fell short 4-2 to Panama and later drew 1-1 with ‘Soca Warriors’

Speaking at the post-game press conference following their unfortunate result against Trinidad and Tobago, Johnson was blunt in his summary, telling reporters, “We never got started; it was slow, it was pedestrian and I said to the players: ‘well done for what has been a wonderful tournament, but to end on a performance like that is a bit of sour note’.”

“You have to be honest, it was nowhere near what I expected, it was nowhere near the standards where we set ourselves for the first two games. So it’s disappointing to end like that but if I take the whole competition into context, it has been historical. It’s our first point. We scored three goals, (Neil) Danns has been fantastic throughout the tournament, so there’s something for us to celebrate and enjoy,” Johnson said.

‘MAGNIFICENT DANNS’
Neil Danns accounted for all three goals scored by Guyana in the tournament. The 36-year-old ‘midfield ace’ is coming off a sensational season with Bury FC in the English League Two, where he captained the club  to second place and promotion to League One.

For Guyana, Danns’ 54th minute beauty scored against Trinidad and Tobago was his 9th in 11 outings on the international scene.

Johnson, like the rest of fans who were all thrilled by Danns’ play in the tournament, was full of praises for the former Leicester City, Crystal Palace and Colchester United player, stating, “We’re talking about a guy who is 36. He trains like he’s an 18-year-old, and I encourage the younger players and I know staff do as well, to go and watch this guy.

He’s in the gym, every morning he’s doing his runs, he looks after himself and that’s why he’s still playing at this level, also a good level back home in England because of the standards he sets himself.”

The former Jamaican International admitted that he questioned if Danns, with his age and the intensity of the Gold Cup, “could’ve lasted three games with his age in eight games (but) he was brilliant. So everything that he gets, he just deserves because you want people like that to do well. He deserves it. It’s unbelievable.”

At the end of the group stage, Danns was the lone Guyanese player named in the tournament’s ‘Best XI’ and was the only player who was listed amongst an illustrious group, who will not be featuring in the knockout round of the Gold Cup.

Also, only Canada’s Jonathan David (5) and Mexico’s Uriel Antuna (4) scored more goals than Danns (3) in the Group stage from the players named as part of the tournament’s best.

Danns, at 36, is also the oldest player on that list and was the Golden Jaguars’ best player in the tournament. 

GETTING THE FIRST POINT

Meanwhile, Johnson said he was happy to not walk away from the tournament without securing a point, adding, “For us it’s fantastic. For us, number one is not finishing at the bottom of the group, so it’s great to finish in third place. It’s great to score and we will move forward … the dream, the belief of this nation (Guyana) is that it’s not just a one-off.”

“In any sport, the higher the level you play at, the better you’ll be for next time because you now understand what’s expected of when you’re playing on the World stage.

“Some of our players maybe all of them, this is the first time ever that they’ve been on a stage like this, and I would like to think that over the course of the three games, they’ve done themselves really proud,” said Johnson.

The 45-year-old Guyanese coach who had an great career as a player with Birmingham City and Derby Country, with all smiles, said, “Yea, we can get swallowed up in this (game against Trinidad) 90 minutes, but when I reflect on the whole calendar year, and what we’ve achieved, actually being here (at the Gold Cup), scoring goals, getting our first point and finishing third, I see it as a real positive and as a real giant step forward.

“Now we can go and have these games against the bigger nations and get a little more respect as against 18 months ago when everybody thought little Guyana will get turned over 9 to 10-nil against the USA”.

 NATIONS LEAGUE
With the GOLD Cup now over, Johnson and his troops will turn their attention to the CONCACAF Nations League, where Golden Jaguars will open their campaign on September 6 when they travel to ‘The Kingdom of The Netherlands’ territory of Aruba.

By virtue of finishing seventh in the qualifying stages of the competition, Guyana were pitted in League B alongside Antigua and Barbuda, Aruba and Jamaica in Group C.

Following their September 6 encounter, Guyana will return home to host Jamaica on September 9, followed by a trip to Antigua and Barbuda on October 11 to finish off the first leg of the home-and-away formatted league.

Guyana will host Antigua and Barbuda on October 15, Aruba on November 15 and will travel to Jamaica on November 18 for their second clash with the ‘Reggae Boyz’.

The home-and-away group stage of the 2019 CONCACAF Nations League will be played on FIFA match dates in September, October and November 2019, while the Final Championship will take place in 2020.

At the conclusion of the round-robin group stage, the winners of each League A group will qualify to the Final Championship, while the League B and C group winners will be promoted to League A and B for the next edition of the competition.

Additionally, the teams at the bottom of each League A and B group will be relegated to League B and C respectively.